Then & Now: The song of life from Limerick wordsmiths

THE 19TH century poet John Francis O'Donnell was born on July 29, 1837, the only child of John O’Donnell and Mary Fitzgerald. His place of birth is uncertain but is recorded as Cornwallis Street now Gerald Griffin Street, Limerick. There is very little known about the O’Donnell family and he was the only child of John and Mary Fitzgerald. Some of the only records that can be found indicate that John’s father was either a shopkeeper or painter, but died at a young age. Even less is known of John’s mother, who was still alive at the time of his own death in 1874.

John received his primary education in Leamy’s School in Hartstone Street and aged 14 went to work as a clerk in a leather shop. He became a member of the Catholic Young Men's Society which had been established by Dean Richard Baptist O'Brien. He showed an early talent for poetry and some of his verse came to the attention of the Dean. As a result he was sent to the Diocesan College to further his education. It was obvious from an early age that John was skilled in languages and writing. He was fluent in both French and Latin, and even knew some German.

At the tender age of 17 he became a journalist at the Munster News and soon after rose to become the sub-editor of the Tipperary Examiner. His talent for writing was quickly noticed across the sea and in 1860 at the age of 22 he joined the Universal News, a London paper with Catholic and Irish nationalist leanings. He returned to Ireland briefly at the end of 1861 and spent a few months writing for The Nation in Dublin and also acted as editor of Hibernian Magazine. Over the next two years he travelled back and forth between Dublin and London working on the above publications as well as the Universal News. On his permanent return to London in 1863 he edited the Fenian journal The Irish People before moving to The Tablet in 1865 where he would remain as editor until 1868.

In 1864 his book The Emerald Wreath. A fireside treasury of legends, stories was published by James Duffy, a rare copy of which is held in the University of Limerick.

This was followed in 1871 with his book, Memoirs of the Irish Franciscans, which commemorates the Counter-Reformation in Ireland. In the early 1870s he wrote of the land agent, John Sadlier, and of Irish evictions, writings which appeared in The Nation and The Lamp.

John didn’t just write for news, journals and book publishers. He was also quite skilled at poetry, which was extraordinarily favoured by Charles Dickens’, who published a number of his poems in All the Year Round. Furthermore, in his varied publications, he wrote under the pseudonyms: Caviare and Monckton West.

In 1871 John was listed as head of his household on 21 Victoria Road, Islington, London. He lived there with his wife Jane Jones (32) from Clonmel Co Tipperary and children Mary, (6), Jane (5) and John(2).

John was married to Jane in about 1864 and all of his children were born in Islington, London. He left the life of literary toil and became a civil servant at a British Colonial Government Office before his death. John Francis O’Donnell died on May 7, 1874. He was only 37 years old and passed away after a brief illness. He was buried at Kensal Green, London.

Several of his poems live on to bear witness to how much John always loved and retained fond memories of his native city. For example, he writes to a Clonmel man in January 1872: “You call Limerick the city of dullness. So it is. But give it to me a million times before the capital of Tipperary.” The best known collection of his verse, Poems, was not published until 1891, seventeen years after his death.

In 1905 a stone plaque was erected on the front wall of Griffin’s Funeral Home on Lower Gerald Griffin Street written both in English and Irish to honour John Francis O’Donnell Patriot Poet born in this house 1837. Erected by Limerick Young Ireland Society and it was crafted by O'Doherty's Stonecutters. He wrote about Adare as follows:

Soft sleeps the village in the maze
Of dreamy elm and sycamore;
Soft slides the river's rosy tide
Through blossomed sedges by the shore,
Rushes, and pendent willows hoar.
The little boat moored in the cove
Takes no pulsation from the stream,
But shadowed on the water lies,
The lovely image of a dream.

True troubadours
The passing of two well known Limerick city musicians and singers took place last month. Willy Browne from Ballysheedy and from a well known musical family was a guitarist and vocalist and a founding member of Reform. Reform was formed in early 1968 and the original line-up included Willy Browne (vocals/lead guitar), Noel Casey (bass guitar), Joe Mulcahy ( rhythm guitar/vocals) and Don O'Connor (drums/vocals). In 1970 the group performed their own song I'm Gonna Get You in the originality spot on the RTE programme Spin Off and was voted number one. It was released in September on CBS Records and the band become known nationwide.

Their second single One for the Boys was released in 1974 and Keep Music Live a reaction against disco music was in the charts in 1977. They performed their own song You Gotta Get Up in the National Song Contest in 1978. They lost out to Colm Wilkinson song Born to Sing, but reached a higher position in the charts.

They released their last single Million Dollar Man in 1983 and it total eight singles and one LP titled One For All. Reform played their last gig in Kilkee in July 1984. They were one of Ireland's greatest live acts and often performed in the Olympic Ballroom in Newcastle West.

Martin Burke from Lynwood Park and Quilty, Clare was a traditional musician, singer/composer and boatman. At age 77, Martin Burke released his debut album, which included three of his compositions: The Clogher Road, written in honour of his wife’s parents and home place of Quilty, Co Clare, Plassey’s Pleasant Shore; and Lough Derg, a jolly account of a sailing trip.

Your bath and shower renovation will never be the same!

Best known for the Clogher Road his son Ronan is one of the presenters of the West Wind on Clare FM. The song is sung locally by Noel Smith and Donie Nolan. I will end with the first two verses of the Clogher Road.

O the savage loves his native land be it mountain, vale, or glen,
The memories of their youthful days live in the hearts of men,
They travel here they travel there through France and Germany,
But the heart feels light on the Clogher Road, that run down to the sea.

I was a stranger on this road now many years ago,
They greeted me so friendly with a warm and kind ‘hello’;
When the bright red sun sinks in the west, I surely long to be
Where peace is found on the Clogher Road that run down to the sea.